A Novel Method to Determine the Resistance of Biotemplated Nanowires

Genetically engineered Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) was coated with uniform layers of palladium metal particles in aqueous solution without the aid of an external reducing agent while producing nanowires of 300 nm in length and 30–60 nm in diameter. By combining a gold nanogap approach and electron beam assisted Pt deposition approach, an innovative electrical characterization technique has been developed in order to determine the resistance of a single Pallidium-Tobacco Mosaic Virus (Pd-TMV) nanorod. The preliminary results showed that these nanoparticles are indeed electrically conductive and that this technique can provide resistance measurements of these types of biotemplated nanoparticles.